Follow a Hound to Retirement – Edition 004

Hello NLGA Dog Blog Readers…it’s Max again!

First things first!  Has anyone else noticed how many rabbits are out hoping around in the morning these days?!  I can almost guess where in the park and in which yards they will be on my morning walks!  I find watching them just fascinating.  How fun! 

Onto the very important topic of this post.  Do you remember me telling you about Reese, Cole, and Ann?  Of course you do, silly of me to even ask!  Well, I’m excited to say they are starting the next chapters of their lives…retirement!...and are traveling to NLGA this Saturday!  Watch for the pictures of the trip in the next blog post!  There may just even be an unexpected surprise announced!  Reese, Cole, and Ann will be looking for their forever homes; contact NLGA if you are interested in adopting!

Next up…Several of our ‘follow a hound to retirement’ friends have raced since I last wrote.  Let’s see.  Smith finished 7^th in his grade A race.  Crown finished 2^nd in his grade C race.  Snow Ball finished 8^th in her grade A race.  Destiny finished 2^nd in her grade D race.  And big guy Vincent finished 1^st in his grade B race. 

So I can hear you are asking me…  “Max, what does all of this mean?  How does this information help me, as a dog blog reader, follow how each racer is doing and where they are in their racing careers or more importantly where they are on the road to retirement…that is what this is all about right?...’follow a hound to retirement’!”  Okay, let me see if I can explain. 

At Bluffs Run, where I raced and where our ‘follow a hound to retirement’ friends are racing, there are 4 grades of racing.  Grade A is the highest (and fastest), Grade B is next, then Grade C, and finally Grade D.  All greyhounds start with schooling and maiden races.  Once they win a maiden race they move up to Grade D.  From there, greyhounds move up and down and up and down in grades based on how they do in their races.  A racers moves up a grade when they win.  And moves down a grade when they have three consecutive races in which they placed 4^th or lower.  If they finish 2^nd or 3^rd, the count starts over.  The exception to the rule is in Grade D.  In Grade D, a racer can have four consecutive races in which they place 4^th or lower before they ‘grade out’.  ‘Grade out’ is just a term which means that they finished their racing careers happy and healthy and get to start the next chapter of their lives…retirement!  Of course, sometimes things work a little bit different but we will discuss those scenarios if and when we come upon them. 

So, with those rules in mind, let’s look at Vincent’s racing.  We’ll look at all his races since I retired…because I was just too busy with my running before that to pay much attention!

Vincent ran a race on December 2 in Grade A and placed 4^th.  A 4^th place finish starts the countdown (to three) to moving down a grade (indicated by the purple 1).  His next race was on December 9^th.  Again a Grade A race.  And again a 4^th place finish.  So that is two consecutive races in which he placed 4^th or lower (indicated by a orange 2).  One more before moving down a grade.  On December 16^th he ran in another Grade A race and finished 5^th.  That made three in a row below 4^th place and therefore he moved down a grade (indicated by the red down arrow with a 3 in it).  On December 28^th he ran in Grade B and finished 2^nd.  A second place finish starts the count over again (indicated by the black dash).  On January 3 he finished 8^th in Grade B which started the countdown to a lower grade.  On January 10^th he finished 5^th in Grade B, to make it two consecutive 4^th place or below finishes.  One more and he would drop to Grade C.  But instead, on January 16^th, Vincent won his race in Grade B.  So, he goes up to Grade A for his next race (indicated by the blue up arrow).  We’ll see how he does in Grade A in his next race and continue to follow Vincent to retirement!

That’s not too difficult, right?  Any questions?  I’ll show you how the others are doing in a similar format in another post. 

Remember, keep an eye out for the next post with pictures of the newest NLGA greyhounds and a special unexpected surprise!

Until next time,

~Max